“How are you going to get to Ostersund?” he said.
“Sveg is only a little place,” she said, “but I managed to rent a car even so. Thanks for your company.”
He watched her walk away. Her clothes, her shoes, everything about her looked expensive. Their conversation had restored some of his lost energy. The question was: what should he do with it? He didn’t suppose there was much in the way of a nightlife in Sveg.
He decided to go for a walk. What Björn Wigren had told him made him think. There was a connection between Berggren and Molin that he wanted to know more about. The curtain had been moved. He was certain of it.
He fetched his jacket and left the hotel. It was chillier than the previous night.
He took the same road as he’d taken earlier in the day. Stopped on the bridge. Listened to the water flowing beneath him. He met a man walking his dog. It was like meeting a ship with no lights far out on a black sea. When he reached the house, he stood in the shadows, away from the glow of the street lights. There was a car on the drive now, but it was too dark to see what make it was. There was a light on upstairs, behind drawn curtains. He stood motionless. He didn’t know what he was waiting for. But he stood there nevertheless.
The man approaching moved very quietly. He’d been watching Lindman for some time before deciding that he’d seen enough. He came diagonally from behind, staying in the shadows all the time.
Johansson had no idea who the man was. He looked in good condition. He eyed him warily.
“Hello,” he said. “I was wondering what you’re doing here.”
Lindman was startled. The man had moved so quietly, he’d had no idea there was anybody there.
“Who are you, asking me these questions?”
“Erik Johansson. I’m a police officer. I am asking myself just what you are doing here.”
“I’m looking at a house,” said Lindman. “I’m in a public place, I’m sober, I’m not creating a disturbance, I’m not even urinating. Is it forbidden to stand and look at a pretty house?”
“Not at all. But the lady who lives there was made nervous and telephoned. When people get nervous, I’m the one they contact. I thought I’d find out who you were. People are not used to strangers standing in the street staring at them. Not at night, in any case.”
Lindman took out his wallet and produced his police ID. He’d moved a couple of meters so that he was in the glow from the streetlight. Johansson grinned.
“So it’s you,” he said, as if he’d known Lindman of old but only just remembered.
“Stefan Lindman.”
Johansson scratched his forehead. Lindman noticed that he was only wearing a thin T-shirt under his jacket.
“Both of us being police officers doesn’t improve matters. Larsson told me you were here. But I couldn’t know it was you outside Elsa’s house.”
“It was Elsa who bought Molin’s house for him,” Lindman said. “No doubt you knew that?”
“I didn’t know that at all.”
“I found that out from a real estate agent in Krokom. I thought Larsson might have mentioned that.”
“All he said was that you were here on a visit and that you used to work with Molin. He certainly didn’t say anything about your spying on Elsa.”
“I’m not spying,” Lindman said. “I went out for a walk. I don’t know why I stopped.”
He realized that it was an idiotic answer. He’d been standing there for a long time.
“We’d better move on,” Johansson said. “Otherwise Elsa will start wondering.”
Johansson’s car was parked in a nearby side street. It wasn’t a blue-and-white police car, but a Toyota with a grill in front of the backseat.
“So you went out for a walk,” Johansson said again. “And just happened to wind up outside Elsa’s house?”
“Yes.”
Johansson looked worried.
“It’s probably best if we don’t say anything about this to Giuseppe,” he said. “He would no doubt be a bit worried if we did. I don’t think they’re all that thrilled in Ostersund to have you spying on people.”
“I’m not spying.”
“No, you said that. But it’s a little odd that you should be standing here at Elsa’s house. Even if she was the one who bought Molin’s cottage for him.”
“Do you know her?”
“She’s always lived here. Nice and friendly. Takes an interest in children.”
“Meaning?”
“She runs dancing classes in the community center. Or used to. The children learned how to dance. I don’t know if she still does it.”